Lost In Space (1965-67)

Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, produced by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965 and March 6, 1968. Lost in Space was the second of Allen’s four science fiction television series. The show’s first season was in black and white, and the second and third seasons were filmed in colour.

Conceptually, the series was a space-age adaptation of the classic adventure novel Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss. It followed the adventures of the Robinsons, an astronaut family who were accompanied by their military pilot and a Model B-9, Class M-3 General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot (GUNTER). In the pilot episode, their pioneer mission from an overpopulated Earth to Alpha Centauri in 1997 is sabotaged by the base doctor, Zachary Smith. He slips aboard their spaceship Jupiter 2 before the launch and re-programs the robot to destroy the ship and crew shortly after leaving Earth.

I think the earliest episodes of this show portrayed a darker and more interesting imagining than what became a kids show.

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15 thoughts on “Lost In Space (1965-67)”

This plays just fine. Maybe some people don’t know to click on the picture of the episode in Hulu. Hover your cursor over them and you will see the triangular “play” button. Click. Click on the titles of the other listed episodes to view it in fancast. I had no trouble at all on my MacBook Pro.

Guys, The ” LOST IN SPACE ” project was a great idea, however, the format it was presented in was a serious failure. At least BAT MAN was intended to be campy to start with.
” LOST IN SPACE ” could have been the defining moment in the history of science fiction. Sadly, they chose to NOT bother with being serious.
They had a great opportunity and simply fumbled the ball.
I can come up with something better in my sleep. The only thing it really had going for it was the fact that it was the only science fiction show being offered at that time in the U.S. market. ———- JT — OHOMOS !

I agree with Kevin about the earlier episodes having a more adult theme. As a kid I can only remember seeing the later episodes when they were in color. Kids watch for the entertainment value and that’s about all they need. Being a Saturday morning program, maybe they had to cater to the audience. Star Trek on the other hand, was light years ahead of all these types of shows. I still watch in amazement. MeTV in my area shows Star Trek and Lost in Space right in order so you get a real good comparison of the two. Thanks Kevin for the links. I can catch up on missed episodes while college football is going.

There wasn’t a color tv set in our house until 1978. I’d see Star Trek in color at grandmas house. It was almost a tradition. Frances sure could cook. I don’t think I saw Lost in Space in color until recently.

As a kid, all these Irwin Allen shows were high on the list of things a kid wanted to watch.

Lost in Space, as it’s been put, ‘lost direction’..yes, the first season was a lot more serious than seasons 2 and 3..from what i understand (and agree), Batman was a game-changer, and in an attempt to ‘keep up’ or otherwise not lose their audience, LIS became campy..most of the second season was played for laughs. in trying to keep up with the Joneses, irwin Allen and Co. lost it..there are so few episodes from the third season i actually like – ‘The Antimatter Man’ being at the top of that list….

There were a lot of production values in season one with a lot of effort put into special effects. The original audience was largely pre-teen and early teens who were attracted to the Sci-Fi futuristic theme. There was a certain amount of research that gave it some amount of credibility. This made it exciting. When the show went to color, much of the production values were compromised and the movie quality of the black and white episodes was gone. I wouldn’t say that the show got silly right away once it went to color. That seemed to start midway into the second season. The third season with the “new” theme music was the most misguided. Perhaps the best episode from the last season was their attempt to return to Earth.

Notice that there were two pilots. NO PLACE TO HIDE was an un-aired pilot. THE RELUCTANT STOWAWAY was the first aired episode. It introduced the added characters of Dr. Smith and the Robot. The addition of Smith added more logic to the Space Ship traveling through the meteor belt and other navigational problems due to the added weight of the extra passenger.

I guess if Lost In Space was later a ‘kids show* then I am still a kid at 59 years old because I still enjoy everuthing about it. Really I do. I wish it was back on with new stories and new players the movie that followed te series was a great dissapointment to me. It would have been a great sifi triump on its own if it hadnt tried to bring the old series into a more aldult aspect . In my opinion.

Look at the difference between the black and white Season 1 and the rest. Season one was kinda spooky. As it went along, the villians sort of turned into carnival characters. You don’t see Will Robinson blow anybody away with a death ray pistol in Season 2 You do get the inevitable lecture from Professor Robinson:

“Will, you shouldn’t blow away the giant cyclops with a death beam pistol. He just wanted a cuddle.”

Here’s Will Robinson killing a defenseless cyclops because it wanted to tickle Don with a tree. Yet another reason for gun control legislation.